Friday, March 8, 2014 was set to be the longest day of our lives. We packed up our Tahoe and trailer with our last boxes and kiddos. Of course, as a mom, we were running late. About 5 hours late. We said our extremely sad goodbyes to our families. We are natives to Arizona, so we've always been within 45 minutes of our friends and family.
If you've driven in any part of Phoenix, you know the traffic. The slowest, stop and go traffic that can last for miles! Yes, we left right in the middle of rush hour traffic. It took us almost 2 hours just to get out of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Keep in mind we have a 3 year old and 3 month old. Driving 10 minutes seems like an eternity! Thankfully, our oldest, Kaydyn, was great! She slept through the first 3 hours of our drive. I was afraid that our baby, Max, wasn't going to be the best road tripper. He surprised us by doing exceptionally well.
We drove straight through to El Paso. It took us 11 hours to get there. That included stops for a potty training toddler and a nursing baby. We arrived at the hotel at 2am and left at 8am to continue our drive. This was set to be our longest stretch. We drove and drove. Each major mile marker we passed, we thought, "that's it?". We got so excited when the miles would go from 418 to 397! The hours seemed to just go by so slowly. We eventually made it to San Antonio! Once we made it there, we knew we were in the home stretch. That's when things turned.
It was dark. Very dark and raining. It started out as a nice steady rain and then lead to a complete downpour! Mark and I have both driven in some crazy rain during monsoon season in PHX, but this was by far the worst we have been in. We were driving on the highway with our flashers on, going about 30 mph. This lasted at least 30 minutes. While it is pouring, Max is in his carseat screaming! It seemed nothing could console him. A bottle, paci, blankies, air on/off or toys did not work on calming him down. Mar was a trooper, I however was not. I made him pull over so I could get Max out of his seat before I started crying with him. I held him for a few minutes and then buckled him back in. We made is to the apartment in peace and quiet!
Whew, we made it. All in one piece. It was still drizzling rain outside and we, I mean Mark, had to bring in some of the necessary boxes. By the time he had brought in the last box, the kids and I were already asleep. Some help I was. Ha!
Sunday. Sunday is here and so is the time change. We went from a one hour difference to two, just like that. Our alarms went off for church, we snoozed them and then realized we were going to be late! I am almost always late wherever I go. We were only 10 minutes late, but we made it. I was wanting a quiet, relaxing morning listening to the message, but the kids had other ideas. Since they did so well on the long car ride, they made up for it in church. Kaydyn was crabby, Max was fussy and I was ready to just take them to the kids section. We all survived. I was finally able to meet some of the great people that Mark has told me about. I felt like I already knew them. It is a great feeling to have at church. A sense of belonging and welcoming from everyone.
After church, we came back home. Mark and our friend, Danny, unloaded the rest of the uhaul. It took an hour or so. Our little apartment filled up quickly. I tried to keep up with them as I unloaded the boxes they were bringing in. We emptied most of the boxes that night. Just because they were emptied, doesn't mean everything was put away! :)
I couldn't have done this, moved to Texas, without my parents. They helped way more than I could've ever imagined! We boxed and boxed late into the nights. We tried to pack everything before I had Max. Well, once I did have him, our tenant moved in quick. We had a day and a half to move all our stuff out of our house and into a storage unit. It was just me, my parents and my two littles. Somehow, we managed to do it. I am so thankful to have such selfless parents to help at the drop of a pin. I am blessed beyond measure!
I'm hoping to keep this blog going to keep all my family updated on how we are doing here in Texas! I am going to do my best!
xoxo
Brae
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